30 THEA UD‘U-B ONS BU LIEN 
little tree or hopeful acorn, will Thorn Creek’s second century oaks be 
buried beneath buildings, or will the forest stand between earth and sky, 
serene in April rainfall, summer sun, autumn colors, and winter snow? 
Will Thorn Creek Woods be raw scar tissue from the gnawing bulldozer, 
and gutted with vomited fill for an expressway, or will the woods’ tonic 
of wilderness bring physical and mental health to the common man, where 
he can reap the rewards of the simple life in outdoor Illinois? 
BARGAIN-HUNTERS, ARISE! / SALE OF PAPERBACKS 
THE FRAIL OCEAN (Marx) 71c 
ECO-TACTICS (Sierra Club) 71c 
MOMENT IN THE SUN (Rienow) | 71c 
THE POPULATION BOMB (Ehrlich) 71c 
KILLER SMOG (Wise) 99c 
SCIENCE & SURVIVAL (Commoner) $1.24 
Add 5% sales tax and 20c per book for packing and 
postage. Mail your orders to IAS Bookstore, 1017 
Burlington Ave., Downers Grove, Ill. 60515. 
A ‘BIRD COUNT’ LETTER IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 
In your Jan. 11 issue you published an entertaining story by Pat Ryan on the 
annual ornithological madness known as the Christmas Bird Count. Now that the 
results are compiled, perhaps would like to know how it all came about. 
A total of 903 counts were accepted (a few were outlawed because they did 
not abide by the rules). Some 16,657 observers from every state and Canadian 
province participated, many of them in more than one count, making this undoubtedly 
the largest cooperative, competitive, short-term, semi-scientific endeavor anywhere. 
Charles H. Roger of Princeton, N. J. took part in his 70th count; the youngest paying 
participant was Ned Isleib, aged 2 months, of the Balmorea, Texas count. 
The combined list for all the counts totaled about 560 species. Cocoa, Fla. once 
again led the nation with 205 species, but Freeport, Texas was a close second with 
204. On the other hand, Nome, Alaska reported an all-day trek by snowmobile that 
found only three species—willow ptarmigan, common raven and McKay’s bunting 
—and two observers in Roan Mountain, Tenn. walked eight miles and saw only 37 
individual birds. 
Observers once again showed remarkable ingenuity in getting around their areas. 
In addition to the usual cars and boats, modes of transport included horseback, horse 
and buggy, bicycle, ice skates, skis, snowshoes, airplane, helicopter, canoe, swamp 
buggy, airboat, adult tricycle, golf cart and feet. 
Finally, it should be mentioned that the Christmas Bird Count is organized, 
sponsored and directed by the National Audubon Society (as it has been since 1900) 
and that the counts are published annually in the April issue of the society’s bimonth- 
ly magazine ‘American Birds.” 
— Robert S. Arbib Jr. 
New York 
